Protecting foreign investment : implications of a WTO regime and policy options

Author(s)

• Correa, Carlos Maria
• Nagesh Kumar

Bibliographic Information

Protecting foreign investment : implications of a WTO regime and policy options

Carlos Correa and Nagesh Kumar

Zed Books , Academic Foundation : Published in association with RIS (Research and Information System for the Non-Aligned and other Developing Countries), 2003

• : Zed Books : hbk
• : Zed Books : pbk
• : Academic Foundation

Note

"Protectionism"--Cover

Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-171) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Despite the mounting criticism that globalization is encountering, the developed countries continue to lose no opportunity to change the rules of the global economy in their favour, regardless of the impact on developing countries and the poor. This book examines one of the most important instances of this: the rich countries' insistence that the WTO not only launch a new round of world trade negotiations, but that rules which were supposed to be confined to trade issues now be extended by means of new agreements protecting foreign direct investment. What is being proposed would be at the expense of the freedom of developing countries to determine their own policies towards foreign capital in tune with their development policy objectives. The two authors of this book have an intimate knowledge of WTO negotiating processes. They explain in detail the North's relentless determination to give privileged protection to the overseas investments of its transnational corporations. These initiatives have included, inter alia, the OECD's failed MAI initiative, the World Bank-sponsored Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, and the WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and Agreement on Trade-related Investment Measures (TRIMS). The authors spell out their consequences for developing countries. They examine whether there is any real case for a new multilateral framework on investment within the WTO. And they propose various options for developing countries to resist what amounts to a new form of Western protectionism, including how a development dimension could be incorporated in any new agreement, should the member countries of the WTO decide to proceed with negotiations. This book provides invaluable information and analysis for diplomats and trade negotiators, policy makers and scholars, as well as civil society activists concerned with the impact of TNC investments on development.

Table of Contents

1. General Context 2. Implications for Developing Countries 3. Implementing the TRIPS Agreement in the Patents Field: Options for Developing Countries 4. Changing National Laws: The Case of Latin America and the Caribbean 5. Intellectual Property Rights and Information Technologies 6. Access to Plant Genetic Resources and Intellectual Property Rights 7. The Upcoming Review of the TRIPS Agreement 8. Options for Implementing the TRIPS Agreement in Developing Countries: Report of a Group of Experts

by "Nielsen BookData"

• NCID: BA66223225
• ISBN:
  • 1842771825
  • 1842771833
  • 8171883176
• Country Code: uk
• Title Language Code: eng
• Text Language Code: eng
• Place of Publication: London,New Delhi
• Pages/Volumes: xiii, 177 p.
• Size: 22 cm
• Classification:
  • DC21 : 382.92
• Subject Headings:
  • BLSH : World Trade Organization
  • LCSH : Investments, Foreign -- Developing countries
  • LCSH : Protectionism